Tunnels
by Saxifrage
Summary: DotmPotC. SpoilersBook12. After the funeral of Tianna, Catty makes an attempt to go back in time and prevent Tianna from dying. But somehow, a mistake arises and she ends up landing into the laps of a few pirates.
1. Bitter Memories

**Tunnels**

**Prologue: Bitter Memories**

**By Saxifrage**

I stared at the large, gray stone before me. Just stared. What more could I do, anyways? It had been impossible for me to cry… Impossible for me to tell her how much I missed her. She wasn't there to hear me anyways.

Slowly, I lifted my tan and elegant hand to trace the letters on that stone, the stone that marked her existence. Tianna Moore, it read, Her strength of will and heart will forever be remembered. I looked away sharply. No, those words didn't _really_ explain who she was.

Tianna Moore was the most beautiful girl anyone could lay their eyes on, and every man who had eyes felt attraction to her, not because of her beauty, but because of the power you could see in her eyes. And she had power, indeed she did.

I brushed my brown hair away from my eyes and turned to walk away. I have power too. It comes from being something that very few people knew about, something that was a birth-given right. But after Tianna's death, I had refused to be what I was anymore. I had denounced my right as a Goddess.

You're probably thinking that I'm insane, or that I have started to believe things that aren't true because of one of my best friend's death. But whether you believe me or not, I have the power that all Daughters of the Moon have, the power to fight the Atrox.

_But it's not enough_. I thought sourly as I walked away from Tianna's gave sight. The grave yard was small and peaceful, surrounded in weeping willows and colorful flowers. _If it was enough, then Tianna would still be here_.

Suddenly, my cell phone started to vibrate. I vaguely looked at the caller ID and realized it was my best friend, Vanessa. _I bet she was able to weep_, I was angry, and a little hurt that for some reason, my grieving was denied me. I left the call unanswered.

The worst part about nobody knowing about the Daughters of the Moon, was that everyone thought Tianna committed suicide. I couldn't handle everyone's sympathy, and people telling me that it's not my fault she wanted to end her life. And I hated my best friends for going along with it! Vanessa, Serena, Jimena _knew_ the truth, but they just let everyone think that Tianna would do something so unworthy of herself!

I ran through the streets of LA as quickly as I could, dodging people and ignoring greetings. I wanted to get to her bus station and go home; Visiting Tianna was just too much for me.

My phone started vibrating again, and I growled at it and turned it off. I hated them at the moment. I hated them for being able to grieve, but instead forgetting Tianna as quickly as possible. I hated them for being Goddesses themselves and that each of them had taken a part in her death.

Vanessa was the one who had led the spell to release Tianna's soul from her body, enabling her to be dead. Serena's boyfriend was the Prince of the Night, the highest ranking Follower of the Atrox, who hadn't explained to Tianna what the _becoming_ was. And Jimena… I hated her most of all. _She_ had _told_ Tianna to go to the Atrox to destroy his form. I could never forgive them, and I haven't since the day Tianna died over a month ago.

Since that day, I have been skipping school more than ever to be with my mother and visit Tianna's foster siblings, one who was staying my house, and another who was slowly dying in the hospital. Tianna had been a foster child herself, and it angers me to know that her foster mother was really yet another high-ranking Follower of the Atrox. I think I must have been the only person to know how she felt about fostering, since my own mother adopted me.

I smiled sadly, remembering the horrified reaction that Kendra had had when she had found out the truth about me. I remember at how Kendra had first thought that I was an alien because I have the freaky ability to travel through time. After Kendra had started to translate a manuscript that I had inherited, called the Secret Scroll, Kendra had assumed that the evil creature it described was me. But the truth was (though I had once believed I alien to this world also) that I was in fact a goddess, a Daughter of the Moon. Once Kendra had figured this out, she had had no doubts concerning me.

Before Tianna's death, I had often wondered about Vanessa's parents, and Jimena's and Serena's, too. They never really talked about their parents, and it had often hurt me to know that they didn't trust me enough. That was another way that Tianna and I had bonded—we both had pasts that were dark and had shared them. But despite their secrets, I had always wondered and worried what their parents would say if they ever found out about their true identity.

What would Vanessa's mom say if she saw her daughter expand her molecules until she became invisible: just a giant cloud of miniscule dust? How would Serena's father react if he finally figured out that she could read and manipulate minds? Would Jimena's grandmother have thought her premonitions were witchcraft? Or now she's a reincarnated goddess, that Jimena's evil? Why didn't Tianna's foster parents ever notice her power of telekinesis? And why didn't anyone wonder why we all had moon amulets—each given to us by strangers when we were young—that we would never take off?

I scoffed at that last thought, as the bus finally pulled up and opened its doors. _I_ didn't wear my moon amulet anymore. As I had said before, I have rejected my identity. Sometimes, though, I would finger it in my pocket, wondering what it's true meaning really was. (Though I didn't want to be a Daughter anymore, I knew I couldn't go somewhere without it—it was the only thing I had that would alert me to danger.) Our former Guardian, Maggie, had always told us that it really had no power; that the power came from _inside_ of us. Somehow, I couldn't believe it. The colored stone just seemed to have a mind of its own.

When I got on the bus, I caught my reflection in the window—something that horrified me. I looked beautiful, with my long, strait brown hair flowing gracefully down my back, my honey-colored eyes, my soft, tan skin, and my petite figure. It disgusted me; I didn't look like I was grieving at all! And who deserved to be beautiful when Tianna had been called away from her body?

I sighed angrily, and stared out the window of the bus, watching the stores disappear from my view, as new stores and restaurants entered my vision. Briefly, I saw Planet Bang, and the long line of students waiting in line to enter it. I looked at my watch and realize that it was five-thirty and that today was Saturday; of course people would start lining up to get into the popular dance club. There was a time when I would have done everything my time traveling power would allow me to do to stay out all night before returning to the daytime to finish my homework. It had worn me out on many occasions.

I remembered the first time I went there, and the first time the entire Goddess posse was there. Tianna had been wearing baggy cargo pants and an extremely cute white top that said _Time is never wasted when it's wasted on a party_. Serena had—

_Wait a second_. I thought suddenly, my eyes bursting open in surprise. With that last thought had come a flash of a memory that I recognized but had forgotten. It was after—or maybe during?—Tianna's funeral… I thought hard and soon the fuzzy memory snapped into focus.

--

"_Catty," Serena said, her bright green eyes swelling with tears. "Are you okay?"_

"_I'm fine." I mumbled. I was too busy focusing on Tianna's stiff, beautiful face that lay pale and sorrowful in her open casket._

_Vanessa, who was left of me, tried to grab my hand to squeeze in comfort, but I pulled away. "Catty," Vanessa begged. "Please, _please_, don't be like this."_

"_Be like what?" I asked evasively in a soft voice._

"_Don't lock yourself up in a casket along with Tianna. She wouldn't want that." Vanessa whispered._

"_Whoever said I wanted a crazy thing like that?" I asked angrily. Who gave them the right to judge how I felt?_

"_You know what we mean." Jimena said. "We love her too, and will miss her, but we have things to do. We have to fight, not give in."_

_Jimena's hand closed tightly on her necklace, which was the head of Medusa. The necklace had always creeped me out before, with the snakes on its head almost slithering at times, and the eyes glinting with promised power. Jimena had claimed that it was possible that it was just like a moon amulet, but with different power, but I had never understood that. What I did understand though, was that Jimena was now making an allusion to my own moon amulet which was concealed in my purse._

"_I'm not giving in, I'm giving up. There's a difference." I growled. I walked away from my friends huffing. I saw my boyfriend, a tall, handsome boy with light brown hair talking quietly with Derek, Tianna's red-headed and cute ex-boyfriend, and went over to him._

"_Hi," I said softly to Kyle, staring into his soft brown eyes._

"_Are you okay?" he asked. It was the same words that Serena had used, but they sounded different from his lips… Somehow serene and sincere._

_I nodded, and he gently kissed the top of my head. I turned to Derek, and he motioned for me to follow him towards the cover of a weeping willow. Tears had streaked down his freckled face and his blue eyes were swollen. He looked unashamed of his tears, but shame still lingered in his eyes. "I hate myself." He told me quietly. "I broke up with her…for—for no reason at all! I hurt her… I was s-stupid—a jerk." His voice revealed his struggle to keep from sobbing openly._

"_She loved you." I told him soothingly. "She really did love you."_

"_I know… B-but it's still my f-fault. I-I should have b-been there for h-her. M-maybe I was j-just afraid of her." Derek searched for a handkerchief in his pocket. I waited patiently as he blew his nose before I inquired my question._

"_Why were you afraid of her?" I was curious… I knew I shouldn't be, but I was._

_Derek paused hesitantly, going over his thoughts in his head carefully before he answered. "She's beautiful, inside and out. Better than me. I thought maybe she wanted someone more handsome than me, more powerful."_

_Something that he said sparked my previously numb memory. Power?_

_My eyes widened in realization. "_Power!_" I exclaimed. Derek jumped at my sudden outburst. "That's it! That's _it!_" I hugged Derek and ran off to find the other Daughters._

_When I found Jimena I immediately grabbed her hand and pulled her through the crowd (ignoring the rude glances,) towards the weeping willow and told her to stay. Derek had left the hiding spot at that point, but it didn't matter. I had to find the other daughters. When I finally did and had also established them beneath the tree, I exploded._

"_Why didn't I think of this before!" I yelled._

_Vanessa looked shocked. "What? What are you talking about? We should be at the funeral!"_

"_I thought you didn't want to disrespect Tianna." Jimena said darkly, glaring my way. I brushed her glare off and smiled at her._

"_There won't be a funeral if our plan works." I said smartly, smirking at my brilliant plan._

"What_ plan?" They asked simultaneously._

"_Well, it's simple really. Tianna died three weeks ago right? Well, I haven't gone back that far before—not without help at least—but I assume it's possible!" I mumbled loudly, babbling as I paced the tree. "If someone lends me their power—or maybe it'll be less strenuous to take tiny bits from everyone, cause then you guys would still have most of your powers and wont be vulnerable—I can go back in time—you guys should probably come so trouble doesn't arise—and save Tianna from death! Then everything will be okay!" I turned to see their reactions to my obviously brilliant plan._

_Vanessa looked worried, even more worried than her usual "I-don't-like-time-traveling" look, and kept glancing at the other two girls. Jimena looked grave, and crossed her arms (in an attempt to seem big and tough) as a tear trailed down her cheek. Serena looked sadly at me._

"_No," She said softly._

_I looked at them, and shook my head. "I'm sorry, I think I just hallucinated. But what do you guys think? We should figure out the when and where."_

"_No," Serena repeated. "_No._"_

"_WHAT?" I cried. "What do you mean, 'no?' This could mean we can save Tianna!"_

"_No," Jimena agreed. "It's too dangerous. We don't know what we'll do. We might destroy Tianna's soul, instead of revive it."_

"_We have to _try_!" I exclaimed, shocked at what I was hearing. How could they possibly give up the hope that she could be saved? I turned to Vanessa, my best friend since I was five. "Vanessa! You agree, right? It there's a way—"_

"_N-no…" Vanessa whispered, tears streaming down her face._

"_But we can save her!" I yelled. "We can _save_ Tianna!"_

"_We don't know that." Serena insisted._

"_And," Vanessa began, her voice and courage slightly rising. "_I_ thought you had said you were giving up."_

_I glared. Best friends? If they were the best of friends, they would do _anything_ that might help their supposed _best friends_. "I can't believe it. Some best friends you guys are." We stood there for a minute, glaring at each other._

_I turned to walk away. "Well, _I'm_ going to do it, since I seem to be Tianna's last friend." I said softly, and turned to walk out of the willow's leafy refuge._

_Then something hit me as a wave of confusion and fierce headaches. Then my excited mind turned numb, as it had been before my revolutionary idea. The next thing I saw, I was holding Kyle's hand, telling him that I no longer wanted to be a Goddess._

--

Tears jumped to my eyes as the memory ended—none of the angry emotions I had felt before seemed to exist at the moment, I was just hurt at their betrayal of Tianna, and of their betrayal of me. Serena had never before used her power so severely on another Goddess. And now I could feel the return of the headache Serena had caused.

But none of it made sense—why wouldn't they help? What the hell was so important about Tianna's death that they understood and I couldn't?

Chris, my late boyfriend, had died at my hands, but I had understood why he had to die—he told me himself that I had to follow the path of my inherited Secret Scroll even if it meant the death of him. I had found peace in that: Chris had expected me to do it; it was possible it would save humanity. I had taken the first step no one before had dared take before, the first step to end the Atrox. I loved Chris and it pained me to see him disappear, but I knew why.

With Tianna I didn't know why.

_Then why don't they just _tell_ me?_ It was a mystery I couldn't solve. But I knew what I had to do:

I had to save Tianna.

**A/N:**

I have corrected most of the mistakes I found in this chapter, so I hope it's better than before! Sorry this chapter is so sad. It'll get funnier in the next few chapters. There'll be some angst here in there, I'll admit, but it's mostly intended as a humor fic. Please review! And by the way (due to an unpleasant review), my new policy is: Don't Like? Don't Read. Don't Bitch.


	2. How Many Levels of Hell Are There Again?

**Tunnels**

**Chapter One: How Many Levels of Hell Are There Again?**

**By Saxifrage**

I smiled nervously at Derek, who had agreed to help me, and gripped my large backpack tightly before slipping it on. I had stocked up on supplies incase I had to relive a few days alone before I had a chance to save Tianna. I also had stocked up on glow-in-the-dark/waterproof watches. I was going to need them. Currently, I had two snazzy looking ones strapped on my left wrist.

Once again, I found myself embracing the goddess in me. I hated to admit it, but without accepting who I am, how could I possibly save Tianna? So, I had dressed as a goddess should. Stylish and funky. Tianna would expect no less.

I had baggy, boyish jeans that had been stained with paint from when I had been working on a piece for an art show, and a zebra printed, sexy halter top that tied around my neck. My nails were painted green; my make-up was dark and thick, my lips a deep red. Green stones dotted my eyes and I had painted a moon swirled in smoke on the outside of my left ankle in red East-Indian ink, so it I knew it wouldn't wash off for a few weeks. My shoes were black running shoes that I thought I would need incase of a rough landing. The two watches I sported had cloth, checkered wristbands, one black and blue, the other black and pink.

And, after some hesitation, I had strapped both my mother's and my moon amulet around my neck. They sparkled innocently in the light.

I was ready to kick some butt.

"I'm ready." I informed Derek, squeezing his hand lightly. "What about you?"

"Yeah, I'm good to go."

"Do you remember what to do?" I asked the red head quietly, staring into his mourning blue eyes.

"Yes." I was about to start when I felt him tug on my arm earnestly. "Catty, if you can't bring her back… tell her I love her. That I've always loved her, and that I'm sorry."

"Don't worry!" I promised him with my famous cocky grin. "You'll be able to grovel to her yourself. I'll bring her back."

And with that, I began to take in his energy, trying to extend my grip on time so I could go back weeks. It was a trick I had heard about from Maggie once, but I had never had any guts to try it myself without someone, and Vanessa had refused. It was my only chance, now. Derek started to go slack against me as I filled with energy; I gently put Derek down as he slumped into a deep slumber.

He would be alright after a good rest.

And now, I was ready.

"See ya, Derek," I muttered, my old spark returning to me. This was it.

My eyes dilated, and I felt the rush as I fell into the Tunnel, cabbage-smelling air delightfully filling my lungs. I had never felt so much power before!

But then suddenly, I banged into something.

"What the–?" A startled scream left my throat as the tunnel turned white, and then grey, and then back to black. It was fading from white to black, back to white quicker than my eyes could keep track of.

Eyes started popping out of the walls, and hands reached out through time, trying to grasp onto me and pull me into their time…

Then I felt a hand hold mine gently. I turned and my eyes met a beautiful brown; I gasped and suddenly the chaos around me seemed like nothingness.

"Cute outfit."

"Tianna?" I asked her softly.

She looked worried, and she was surrounded by a light.

"Catty, let go." She told me. Her voice echoed in my ears. "Let go of your sorrow, I can't come back."

"What? Tianna, no!" I scrambled to keep her hands in mine. "Tianna, please you have to come back!"

"I can't." She said simply, a sad smile gracing her beautiful face. "I'm with Selene now, so I'm okay. But Catty, you're in trouble. There was a reason you weren't supposed to go back. A trick laid by the Atrox." I looked at her, confusion written in my eyes. "The others knew. They were trying to protect you."

"What trick?" I whispered. Anger whelled up inside of me, and my voice raised its level in volume. "What trick! Why won't you tell me!"

"I don't have time." Tianna was worried again. "Quick, take my powers!"

"What?"

She shoved something into my hand, and I felt a burn upon my skin. "I attained them from the Atrox, and purified them. Now you can take them."

"Tianna, wha–"

"Tell Derek, I love him too, but he needs to move on. I'll watch over his happiness."

Then, she was flying away from me, the light holding her disappearing. "TIANNA!"

"Remember!" She yelled, her voice getting faint. "Remember that Maggie's real name is Penelope!"

"WHAT? TIANNA! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"

She was already gone, and I was tumbling into the abyss, alone, and unable to get out of the Tunnel. The hands on my watch were spinning faster than I had ever seen them before.

I was beginning to think that I was stuck. Stuck like how Vanessa had always feared I would become stuck.

Pressure on my arm stopped me from my continual downward motion in time, and I looked and saw that a hand had caught me. A tug pulled on me, and once again I tumbled, but this time I landed on ground.

Blackness filled my eyesight as I heard people screaming and running to my aide.

That was the last thing I remembered.

--

The first thing I noticed was that I was on ground, but everything felt like it was spinning. It must have been an after effect from staying so long in the Tunnel… like when you spin in circles for a long while and then lie down… the room keeps spinning.

So I was just spinning away. Spin, spin. Whee! I read a poem about spinning once. Something about gyrating bugs? …Whirligig Beetles. Or something. I felt like a spinning beetle. Just spinning, spinning, spinning… In the darkness. Spinning darkness. Whee... Or maybe it was more of a rocking sensation? I couldn't be sure. I seemed to be a little out of it. But I was spinning. Or rocking. Just a little out of it.

I stopped my mind from babbling long enough to notice the second and third things.

There were voices; I wasn't alone.

"What do you think we shud do?" The person's voice was slurred. He was obviously slightly drunk and sounded uneducated and British.

Wait. Bristish? Hmm… spin, spin, British man.

"Shud we tell tha captain?" A similar voice answered.

"Sheh's dressed kinda funneh. Maybeh she's a whore!" He was obviously excited about the revelation that I might be a whore. Hm. Spinning whores…

Oh, wait. That's _not_ a good thing. Is it?

I tried to move, but with no luck. My strength was coming back way too slowly for my liking. If only I'd stop spinning! If I started to think a little clearer, it might help also.

"Well, if sheh's a whore, we best not tell tha captain, eh?" the other voice chuckled. " 'e'd just want 'er for 'imself."

"Yeah, you're right!"

Pause.

"Wha' do ya do with whores 'oo aren't awake?" Even my smooshed brain knew that this wasn't good. It muttered something to me about hell. I listened closely to my sanity and finally caught was it was saying. I took the opportunity to grasp it and possibly understand what was going on.

Me. Thought to be a whore by two men. Alone. Unable to move.

Oh hell. Oh double hell. Oh triple hell.

How many levels of hell were there? Seven? Yep. Seven.

I think.

Oh seven hells of doom. Why me?

Suddenly, I got my mouth working. Yes! Finally, a chance to tell them: I'm not a whore! "Uhh…" I groaned.

Okay, well, it was a start, and I was actually feeling like I might move a little. Just a little would be good at this point. And my mind was working again. No more thoughts of spinning. Minus that last one.

"She's wakin' up!"

My eyes fluttered open, and the first thing I saw were two dirty men staring at me eagerly. "Ah!" I yelled, started. My body jerked back, and my head hit a wall. I realized then, that I had been propped up in a sitting position against a door. I was in some sort of closet.

Maybe there were more levels of Hell than I thought. This was definitely one of them.

" 'ello!" The first one said. He was missing quite a few teeth and it looked like he might have been sporting a black eye under his deeply dirty and tan skin. "I'm Jonny Johnson, an' this's Blackeye Pete. We saved yeh. Even if you're a whore, we didn' think ya shud be out in da open on a pirate's ship."

I groaned a little bit at the man. Couldn't he see anything? "Not… a whore…" I grinded out, my voice raspy and barely intelligible. I did NOT look like a slut.

"No?" The other one asked, disappointed. "Oh, tha's a shame. Still prolly best dat the captain didn' see ya, o' course. 'e's a bit of a nutty."

I nodded at everything he was saying, not quite understanding him through his thick accent. Then something clicked.

Pirate ship?

"Wait – wha?"

Before they could answer my befuddled expression, a knock resounded on the door.

"Whatchoo two doin' in there?" Suddenly the door opened, I was blinded by bright light, and I immediately fell backwards. I felt the two men in front of me try to block this man from my view, not that I could see him or anything. Then again, maybe they were blocking him? I couldn't be too sure. I was still a little groggy, and the ground under me still seemed to be rocking.

"Ahhh, yeh've got somethin' good there. Let's take 'er to tha captain." I guess he saw me anyways.

"Damnit." They grumbled, and lifted me off the ground. I didn't have the energy to protest physically, but I did manage to mutter something about hygiene and a personal space bubble.

I blinked in the light, my eyes finally adjusting. I looked around the room – and realized I wasn't in a room. I was, indeed, on a ship.

"Where am I?" I mentally applauded myself on a full sentence.

The three men turned to me with their toothless grins. "The Black Pearl."

They said it so gleefully and proudly that I was left wondering whether I should know what a black pearl was or not. Weren't pearls white?

And wait! I was on a ship!

Crap.

**Review Responses**

**SelenesSong: **Yes, I know that Catty is being a little bitchy and inconsiderate to the other's feelings, but hey, you gotta give her some slack! Her friend just died. Wouldn't you be bitchy? And Catty's never really paid attention to right and wrong. If she thinks she can save Tianna by going through time, whether it's true or not, she will. No matter what the others say. Glad you liked it though, and I really liked that line, too. XD

**ThePenguinAteMyHomework:** Hold onto your butt… Things are gonna get crazier! You know how Catty is, and her plans never really work out. Hope you liked!

**MaidoftheMer: **All I can say to that is: "Thanks!" and "Mmmm… muffin." :)

**Who Am I: **Answer to correction one: That's kind of the point. Catty is an idiot and her rashness gets her into trouble, but we love her anyways. To Correction two: Kyle IS Catty's boyfriend. Look it up. Read the book again. I've fixed most of the grammatical errors, also.

**A/N**

I hope you liked the newest chapter! Sorry for the lack of updates; I don't know how long it will take me to update this or my other fics. And hope that this is more humorous than the first chapter was. I wasn't intending on having this fic be so angsty. Please Review!


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